Black Coffee, White Cream
by The Broken Watchman
Summary: A series of stories about Blake and Weiss attempting to make it on their own business venture together. Other characters from RWBY present but not as consistently as Blake and Weiss.
1. Chapter 1

Terrible Jobs and an Amazing Relief

"I'll take two cappuccinos, one espresso, and a large regular coffee to go" a customer listed off a notepad he was reading from.

With very little enthusiasm, Blake quoted from the poster hanging above her without looking "would you like to sign up as a rewards member and save 10% today?" She didn't want to bother the man, as he was here every other day with the same order, and he always been nice to her. Her boss just used the information to learn what customers bought and then raise the prices of those drinks anyway. However, she didn't want her boss to bitch at her even more, and she could feel his eyes boring into the back of her shirt, just hoping she would slip up.

"No thank you" the man replied politely. When he smiled, Blake would have sworn that his canines were too sharp and long, and she suspected his faunus bloodline. She couldn't be sure though, and she would never ask something that personal. Assuming he was though, Blake envied the man, who couldn't have been older than twenty five, as she would have loved having an easily hidden animal feature, instead of the two large cat ears that protruded from the top of her head. Up until recently Blake had attempted to keep them hidden, under bows and hats. That had become difficult as she attempted to get a job.

When she began applying for jobs across the city, Blake found that most questionnaires had a check box at the top directly at the top: are you a faunus? Hide her nature, yes, but deliberately lie about it and take the risk of whatever repercussions lying on the application was a chance she wasn't willing to take. Whenever she saw one of these, it pretty much meant that the job was unavailable. And if it was, you weren't going to make a fair wage.

Her boss had decided that she would be a great source of cheap labor, and after a week of jerking her around, and making her come in for multiple interviews just to waste her time, the old racist decided that keeping her around would allow him the opportunity to torment her on a daily basis. With terrible pay and very few hours, he gave her the job, and made it clear that she was just there because the idea amused him. She would have rather worked almost anywhere else than where this man would be tormenting her, but she had come down to the wire, and the school aid programs would only supply her so much. If she didn't find a source of income, no matter how bad it was, she would soon have to leave Beacon. Begrudgingly she accepted.

"That will be $14.43, would you like to pay cash or credit" Blake asked, silently hoping he would pay cash. The tip jar was bone dry, and people were more likely to tip if they pay with cash. With how little she made, she would be happy to receive just the left over change.

"Cash is good," he replied, and handed her a twenty. She smiled, accepted the money, and attempted to put the bill into the cash register. The old machine was so rusted and worn that it was almost impossible to open with just the click of a button, and there had been many times when Blake had had to use a knife from the pastry section to pry the drawer open. Luckily, today the machine seemed to have loosened up with the heat, and the drawer opened up without too much shaking.

Without looking up, she counted out his change and handed it to him, and turned around to the machines behind her. She was pleased when she heard the sound of change bouncing off of glass, as some amount of change was put into the tip jar. The machines were just as old and busted as the register, and it wasn't uncommon for Blake to have to grind the beans for coffee by hand. Luck was with her today, as it seemed as though all of the machines she needed were working fine, and she quickly made the man's order. As she worked the man behind her asked "so, how is this place working out for you, you always seem like you're in a good mood when I come in and order".

"It's good, the pay is nice, and the work is interesting" she lied smoothly. She was paid $5.25 an hour, and she never received more than 30 hours a week. The store was also too big for how few employees worked there. Most days when Blake worked it was just her and her boss, and he said his main responsibility was to 'supervise'. Because the store was both a coffee shop and a reasonably large book store, Blake spent most of her day running between the two sides of the store, and unintentionally making customers wait on either side. It was obvious that stocking both sides with only a single employee wasn't possible, but her boss liked to place the blame on Blake being lazy, instead of her not being able to physically work both jobs.

As she turned around to hand the man his order in a cup holder, she was surprised to see that the entire 5 dollars and the extra change had been placed in the jar. She handed him the cardboard holder, smiling, and told him to have a nice day.

Her boss decided to walk up at this point, just as the man was walking way. Once he was barely out of earshot, he said to her "You didn't ask that man to write a review for us online."

"You said we should only do that for orders over twenty" Blake replied earnestly, already knowing that this wasn't going to be good. Her boss was in a foul mood today, which he was in almost every day, and had already snapped at her for multiple petty things, things that weren't even her fault. Her shift wasn't even half over.

He came up to around Blake's shoulder in height, and was already beginning to go bald, even though he was only around 45. He was a fat man, who took no pride in his appearance, constantly showing mustard stains on his bowling shirts and slacks. Worse though than his appearance was his personality.

Blake considered the man purely evil, and he enjoyed watching Blake's misery at her job. He was an old police officer, who viewed the faunus community as evil, unintelligent, brutish monsters. In his moments of 'glory' as he put it, while the raven haired girl though the stories were horribly wicked, he had been a riot shield during some of the faunus rebellions. He sighed happily as he remembered pepper spraying peaceful protesters, and hung souvenirs from his work across the store, from canes he had confiscated from the elderly, to pictures of his handiwork with animal children crying in the background. Most customers didn't notice the memorabilia, and those who did were often disgusted at the displays. When a customer complained, he would just call them turncoats and a myriad of other insults as soon as their backs were turned.

"You should be able to think for yourself, you ungrateful mongrel" her boss snapped back. Looking around, he got a cruel smile on his face. "I should fire you for something like that, as he is a regular, but I'm feeling generous today. I'm feeling so nice, that I am only going to dock your pay." Reaching up to the tip jar, as it rested on the counter higher than he stood tall, he plucked out the five and one of the quarters. Looking down back into the jar, he smirked at her and said "nice tips. And remember who is so kind to even give you this job". He tossed the jar back at Blake, hoping she would miss and jet clocked in the face. Unfortunately the faunus, who had begun to contemplate murder, caught it, and placed the now pitiful tip jar back on the counter.

"Take care, as I'll be going out on business for a bit" he smiled at her as he started to walk away. Blake couldn't care less what business it was, as she would find out when he returned, whatever new stains he would receive on his shirt.

"Next" Blake called, waiting for her day to be over.

* * *

"Blake, how have you been? And don't just shrug us away like you usually do." Weiss was sitting across from Blake at one of the café's three chaired tables, with Yang leaning her elbows on the table between the two of them. Her concern was evident in her pale blue eyes, and while Yang hadn't asked the question herself, she was just as worried.

"I'm fine" Blake mumbled, although she wasn't that convincing. It was her break, and her two friends had been close by, doing summer errands for their 3 day vacation they were planning next week. Ruby would have come along as well, but she was pulling a shift at the mechanic shop. And while the other three would never admit it, shopping with Ruby could be difficult, as everything on the isle was something they could use, want, or need, even if the rest of the group couldn't understand the need for a blender on a trip to the beach.

"No you're not, don't tell us that" Yang spoke up. She hated seeing her partner here, how Blake always seemed as though she was unhappy. "You don't have to work here; you can surf on my couch as long as you need to until you can get your own place". Yang was pleading with her, begging her.

"I can't, the second Beacon saw that I wasn't able to keep my own residence they would ask me to leave" Blake responded. Beacon's policy wasn't meant to harm their students, but instead an attempt to not force students to ruin their lives with enormous amounts of debt. Unfortunately, sometimes unique cases like Blake's would create issues for a student, and Beacon couldn't alter the way it was run just to give a single student a break.

"Then let me give you a residence" Weiss began to plead. "I have more money than I could ever use in a lifetime. A hundred lifetimes! I'll even charge you interest on the loan if you really need to pay me back!" That last part was a lie; she would never take the money of a teammate, and would find some way to give it back to Blake eventually.

Blake just shook her head this time. Unfortunately, she should have shaken her head 2 minutes ago, as her boss stormed up angrily and shouted at her "what are you doing here!? We have customers, and your break ended a minute ago!"

"Sorry", Blake replied simply, afraid of what might happen if she tried to say something else.

Weiss and Yang just sat there, speechless. They both knew that Blake's boss was horrible, but to be this disproportionally mean was completely uncalled for, as only one man stood by counter waiting for coffee, and he was obviously in no hurry, as he had picked up a book nearby the counter and begun reading the story. Blake recognized the man as her regular, who had always left large tips. He looked up, realizing that Blake was getting in trouble because of him and said "please, I'm fine, I'm in no hurry."

The owner simply glowered at Blake, without even acknowledging the man's comment and said "we don't make customers wait" in the most menacing voice he could make.

Blake had quickly gotten up, shooting her friends a look of goodbye as she jogged up to the register. Neither of them moved however, as if they were both staying to observe. She was so flustered that she made the only mistake that could have made everything worse; Blake returned to the counter without putting on her uniform. It shouldn't have been a big deal, as Blake was already wearing the black store brand collared shirt, but in her rush to get to the counter she forgot to throw on the purple apron. That was the match that lit the powder keg.

"YOU STUPID ANIMAL!" The store owner yelled the across the 10 foot distance. In all truth, he was just trying to embarrass Blake in front of her friends, and thought that this would be a perfect opportunity. Unfortunately, he had made a terrible miscalculation, believing that Blake's friends would ever stand for such cruelty.

Yang, fire in her eyes, had stood up so fast that she had knocked over the chair that she had been sitting in, both of her gauntlets enveloping her fists. Her hair was on fire, and the flaming strands danced across the blonde's vision. And while Weiss hadn't moved, the temperature in the store, in the burning sun of mid-June, had suddenly dropped what must have been thirty degrees. It seemed as though all the heat in the store had disappeared, and the only source being a miniature sun stalking up towards the counter, where the store's owner had stooped behind, cowering from the approaching inferno.

Blake, unsure and not caring if this was the end of her job, wasn't going to let her friends go to prison over something like an ignorant human. She rushed over and wrapped her arms around Yang's waist, pressing her shoulder against Yang's collar bone. She attempted to push Yang out of the store, the fire in Yang's hair making it hard to see, as her vision was soon covered with purple streaks. While anyone else would have been burned, Blake had trained herself long ago to not be affected by her partners semblance. In the infancy of their partnership, Blake was constantly getting minor burns while she worked with Yang on training mission. Over time, and through a lot of trial and error, she had learned that the opposite emotion of whatever was setting off Yang's fire made herself invulnerable to the heat. It was obvious that rage was what was setting off her partner's flames, and sadness was the emotion that Blake needed to draw out. Blake was a little depressed how easily and fully she was blocking Yang's flames, as she usually could feel some portion of the heat emanating off of Yang. Right now however, all she could feel was the cold Weiss had placed on the store.

Getting Yang out of the store was difficult for Blake, especially since her partner was still swinging and screaming at her boss to "come and face me, not just hide behind the counter like some bitch!" Blake for a moment thought that might have prioritized wrong, and that she should be more worried about what Weiss would do. Weiss had never looked the part, being so small and appearing so innocent. Blake new better, and she understood that Weiss was probably the meanest and most hardcore out of any of them. Weiss hadn't moved more than an inch, but her anger was obviously growing, as now the breath coming out of their mouths was visible, and frost had started snaking its way across the floor and up the windows, as if spider legs were growing out from where the heiress was still sitting. The only movement she had made was to place her left hand on the grip of her rapier, as if preparing to rip it from the loop on her belt and stab the owner.

Finally getting Yang out of the store, she let go of her partner and placed herself in front of the door. Weiss still hadn't moved at this point, but Blake would have to deal with that in a moment, after the miniature sun in front of her would extinguish itself. Instead, it seemed as though Yang was only getting madder, the wires of sunlight swirling around Yang's head at a greater speed. Yang's voice also changed slightly whenever she was angry, as if the fire also migrated into her throat. In a crackly voice, as though a volcano was speaking to her, not her best friend, Yang said "I can't help you if you won't let me Blake". Breathing in deeply, as though the fire was also consuming all the oxygen she needed to even speak, she huffed out "and I won't watch while you let him torture you." Walking over to her motorcycle, which had been parked in one of the parking spaces along the street, she kicked up the stand and drove off wildly, causing two cars to have to swerve out of the way to avoid being hit.

Just as Yang had turned out of view, Blake heard the store doorbell tinkle. Blake turned behind her and saw Weiss looking off into the distance after the bike. Weiss sighed and said "She was my ride, although I probably didn't want to get singed on my way home anyway". Looking up at Blake she said in a matter of fact tone "you shouldn't work here." Giving Blake's arm a squeeze, Weiss walked off down the street, a small web of frost forming wherever her feet touched the pavement.

Blake walked back into the store, ignored the curious and sympathetic looks of the mid-day patrons who had heard everything that transpired in and out of the shop, and the one furious burning gaze from behind the counter. Without raising her head, she walked over to the bathroom, and locked the door behind her. In her entire life, she had cried twice outside of her own home. That day the number rose to three.

* * *

"Well, well, if it isn't my favorite half breed" Blake's boss leered down at her from atop a ladder that led to the higher shelves where the store stocked its extra books. "Did you get stuck up in a tree?"

Blake walked into the store, and looked around the place carefully, with an air of peace that she had never possessed while in the store. It was early in the morning, and the shop was mostly empty, save for one person. Siting at one of the cafe's tables was the man who had always been nice to her, whose order was so consistent that she was never surprised to see him every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Her regular. She felt sorry that she had never asked what he did for a living; she wasn't sure if she would ever see him again. That wasn't the only reason she was scanning the place however. She was also checking for cops, as she didn't want to be interrupted. She hadn't planned for what she would do if any were present, but luckily there were none.

"I'm docking your pay for giving me such short notice when your friend called and said that you wouldn't be here yesterday. And I was so close to giving you a raise too. I thought that you might deserve $5.30 for all the work you do around here. I guess we will just have to wait until next quarter" the man jested, trying to get under her skin. Ever since he had gotten her to cry in the store last month, or at least ever since he thought that he had gotten her to, he had been trying to replicate the event. To see Blake with her blood shot eyes, working with the slight tremble in her hands, trying to hide the fact that she had been broken for the entire day, he had found so much happiness in her obvious distress. Her pain was his pleasure, and he was dying to see it again.

All of his taunts fell on two pairs of deaf ears, as Blake stood at the bottom of the ladder looking up at him.

Actually taking in her appearance for the first time, he squinted at her and snapped "why are you not in your uniform?" To him, she was wearing a ridiculous shirt with a cat hanging off a tree on it. To her, it was her favorite shirt she owned now, even though she had had it for less than two days.

"Sir, I've been thinking…" Blake began, and then in one swift motion, she used her leg and hit the ladder as hard as she could with her shin. Knocked off of its tracks, the ladder came tumbling down, with Blake's boss landing on top of it painfully. Leaning over the ladder, she placed a foot on her boss's leg. While the wind had been knocked out of him, and he posed no threat, she wanted to make sure he heard what she had to say. "…That if you had been one of us you would have landed on your feet".

"I'll… I'll fire you for this!" Her boss was astounded that Blake had acted out with violence. Part of the reason that he enjoyed poking at Blake was that he thought she would never lash back at him. He had equated her to a jaguar with no teeth or claws, and he had assumed that she was no threat. He hadn't realized that a panther with no weapons could still crush your rib cage under its weight. Blake was meant for big things in this world, and this grimy old man was nothing more than a pest she had finally been able to crush under her foot.

"I'll do it for you, I quit".

Looking out the store to the window, hoping to find help, he saw three girls blocking the view looking in. Two of the girls he recognized as friends of Blake, and one he didn't. The ones dressed on red and yellow were cheering silently, although they were actually making a lot of noise on the other side of the glass. The one in pure white however simply stared him down, and he knew that this wasn't the end of her wrath, not by a long shot. Whatever he received here wouldn't be the end of his torment, and as he felt the power behind her gaze, he felt as though every pound that had been lifted off of Blake's shoulders now rested on his.

"I hope you rot here." Standing, Blake looked over at the man sitting at the café, expecting some kind of reproachful look. Instead, she saw from him a large smile, large enough that she could see what could only ever be lupine teeth. "Good for you" he laughed, not caring that his favorite coffee place had lost its best barista. He had only continued coming to this store hoping that he would one day see this. The man couldn't believe his luck that he had.

Without a glance back after that, she walked out of the store and onto the busy street. Her friends all peeled away from the window at this point, and Weiss asked her "feel better?"

"I think I actually do" Blake responded, feeling as though a vice was removed from her chest, and that she could breathe easily again.

"I sure am" Yang exclaimed, swinging off of Blake and landing in front of them. "So now where are we heading?"

"Anywhere" Blake replied, feeling as though her horizons were finally opening fully, and that she could finally do whatever she wanted.

* * *

**I am going to be writing these chapters as a parallel to my other stories. While they are both taking place in the same world, and at the same time, and are both important to each other, these stories will be more focused on one particular issue. These chapters are mostly going to be about Blake and Weiss, with the other members of team RWBY and the characters from the RWBY universe showing up here and there. I don't know how many there are going to be, but I would assume around five or so. All of my other stories are going to go under the other main overhead, unless they too need their own story.**

**Leave a review, tell me what you think (I CAN TAKE WHAT YOU DISH OUT!). But seriously, I want to get better, and negative feedback is just as, if not more important than positive reviews. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

One day on a cool, breezy fall afternoon, a cat faunus walked through the downtown of the city surrounding Beacon. Wading through the smaller boutiques, searching for interesting knick knacks and art was a pastime Blake had come to enjoy. When she suddenly heard her phone ringing, she prepared to answer to her administrator for the hunter organization. She had been preforming extremely well for the organization, and Blake was awaiting the message from her new boss that would tell her that she and Yang had been upgraded from junior hunter class two to junior hunter class one. Her new boss, a fellow faunus, was in charge of all new recruits in the surrounding region, and had taken notice of Blake's ambition to succeed. While there had never been any obvious favoritism, and no one else had no reason to be suspicious, Blake had sometimes wondered about the speed and the frequency with which her team received missions that would gain them respect and a name within the organization. While most new teams received simple guard duty missions or "pest control" assignments, Blake and Yang had a tendency to receive missions with both higher risks and higher reward.

When Blake answered her phone, preparing for an extremely formal conversation, and was greeted by snow princess, she had a hard time hiding the surprise in her voice. "Hey Weiss, what's up?" It was unusual for Weiss to actually call people on the phone, as usually the heiress hated speaking to people except in face to face meetings. That being said, she was an avid texter, and would just tell a person to meet her in a place.

"…Is this a bad time?" Weiss could hear the surprise that colored Blake's voice. She wouldn't have called Blake, but it was somewhat important, and Weiss needed the raven haired girl's expertise.

"No, no. It's a good time. What do you need?"

Blake could hear Weiss contemplating silently for a moment, and then heard "could you meet me at the address I'm sending you in an hour?"

"Sure" Blake trilled, awaiting the text to arrive.

"Alright, I'll see you there" Weiss said before she unceremoniously hung up.

Pulling back her phone, Blake saw two notifications. One was the text from Weiss, and the other a message for a missed call. Staring at the number for a few moments, it suddenly dawned on Blake that she had been waiting on this number all afternoon.

"…Dammit!"

* * *

Blake had been unable to get a call back to her boss, and was force to leave just a simple voice message detailing her deepest apologies for missing his call. Because of this, she was more than a little annoyed as she walked down the street to meet Weiss. While it hadn't been Weiss's fault that Blake had missed the call, the raven haired girl was allowed to be irrational every once in a while.

When Blake realized what part of town she was in, she looked around surprised. Why would Weiss call her to her old job? Blake avoided this section of the town as if it was infected with plague, and had even given up her last paycheck just so that she wouldn't have to return to the coffee shop. Blake found it hard to believe that Weiss would call her back to this part of town for no reason.

Rereading the text she had received, Blake realized that Weiss had actually asked to meet her across the street. And sure enough, when Blake arrived in front of the condemned old building directly across from her old workplace, she saw the pale white girl leaning against the heavy wooden door facing the coffee shop. Weiss was staring apathetically across the street, in a mood that Blake had come to recognize over the past year as a team. It was the same look that a cat had while it was looking into a bowl of fish, cold and calculating, but also annoyed at the inability to simply pluck out her prize. Why she would be looking at the old shop that way was a mystery to Blake, but the raven haired girl assumed that it would be evident when she heard why Weiss had called her here.

Blake had walked the entire twenty meters to Weiss without the heiress taking notice. She ended up standing next to the blonde, and having to tap the girl on the shoulder to get her attention.

"Hmm…." Weiss hummed as she snapped out of her thoughtful mood. Looking up, Weiss saw the raven hair girls attempt at an annoyed face. It wasn't very impressive. "Hey, glad you're here".

"What did you need me for Weiss?" Blake was hoping to get back to a quiet place where she could watch her phone again. Stressing so much over this one phone call probably wasn't healthy, but if she continued to miss her boss's calls she would begin to appear unprofessional, and the position could be given away to another recruit team.

Instead of receiving an answer Weiss simply held out to the raven haired girl a key, and nodded at the door, taking a step into the main walkway. Blake wasn't sure what was going on, but decided to simply go with the flow. It would be easier than asking Weiss while she was in one of her mysterious moods. Placing the key inside the lock, Blake opened the door and found herself inside of a large, open room.

"What am I looking at here Weiss?" Blake was growing impatient with all of the secrecy, and truly just wanted to know point blank what the heiress wanted.

"This Blake… this is my attempt at making it my own way," Weiss answered again mysteriously.

That was it. With that final comment Blake was pushed over the edge of her patience, and whirled around violently, planning on giving Weiss a good punch for being so annoying. When Blake turned towards Weiss, however, she saw the pensive look on the blonde's face. It was gauging Blake's mood, and Blake immediately knew that Weiss had been trying to rile her up. Weiss needed Blake's passion and creativity, which was hard to get out of the usually apathetic teammate. The heiress had always thought that passion was only a different form of anger, as she had used this method on Blake in the past to drive her friend to action.

"I was thinking about the comments you guys made last week about the 'puppet strings' **(1)** I had been wearing for the company" Weiss began. And before Blake was able to cut Weiss off and apologize, the heiress continued with "and it turns out I can't completely abandon the company. At least not yet." She then looked around the shop, and continued on with what she had wanted to say. "I don't think I would have ever been able to act as the perfect company figurehead my father wanted. At least the person who I am now couldn't. Which… I suppose is a good thing. I'll be free to live my own life, and actually be able to enjoy my future. But even if I'm not the head the Schnee Company needs, I still want to see my family's legacy do well". Weiss's voice was mixed with a hint of sadness, and Blake could understand why. Weiss had lived her entire life under the pretense that she would one day be required to take over one of the largest companies in the world, and shoulder that huge responsibility. And after she put all that time, hard work, and effort into the Schnee Corporation, she would then have to be prepared to give that company up the second a man with enough connections to benefit the company asked for her hand. While this new path Weiss had chosen had left her with more freedom in her future, it had also robbed her of a sense of purpose. What had she spent all the years of torturous effort for if she was just going to give it all up?

"Weiss… I… I'm happy for you and all, and I do think that this choice is best for you… but maybe you should talk to Ruby about this. She might be better at the consoling, being your best friend and all".

Weiss shook her head. Looking up, Blake suddenly realized how close Weiss was to tears. In a low voice, almost too quiet for Blake to hear, a pair of bloodshot eyes locked with Blake's, and Weiss asked "do you think that Ruby could ever be able to understand doubting your choices, or fearing for the future?"

Blake knew the answer was no. Ruby lived in the moment, without a regard to the future or any regrets for the past. If Weiss brought her fears to her partner, Ruby would try her hardest to understand, but to the redhead it would be as though she was blind, and Weiss was describing the color red. Ruby just wouldn't be able to even comprehend the idea of anxiety over the future.

Weiss's words had left her feeling emotionally raw, and she wanted to return to a lighter conversation. Blinking away the mist from her eyes, she looked around the room and said "so now I'm going to do something different for the company."

"How so?"

"Schnee Industries is a great shipping and distribution company, but we have no public facing side to the business. I doubt many people would notice if someone else ran us out of business, as long as dust shipments continued to flow. I'm going to create a front side to the business, and prevent something like that from happening" Weiss growled, as though the thought of action made all of her previous heavy thoughts fade away.

"Okay, sound like a plan" Blake spoke in a soothing voice, watching for any more changes in Weiss's mood. An emotionally unstable Weiss was a scary prospect, and Blake knew she wasn't equipped to handle her friend at a moment like that. Even Yang would be better than Blake for something like that. "So what, are you making a FedEx or something?"

Drawing up all her courage, knowing that what she was about to say would seem idiotic and silly, Weiss huffed out "Nope, I'm going to open a coffee shop!"

"Excuse me?" This sounded like a hair brained scheme from Ruby, not the usual carefully laid out plans that Weiss made.

"It's perfect. What company gets bad PR for coffee?"

"Companies that don't sell coffee" Blake responded back. "Why do you even want to open a café in the first place?"

"Just seemed like a good idea" Weiss stated defensively. Blake, however, caught the sudden glance that Weiss did over her shoulder and out the window. Looking back, Blake suddenly remembered what part of town they were in.

"And this isn't in any way to get back at my old boss" Blake questioned. "Why are we directly across the street from a coffee shop if you want to sell coffee yourself?"

Weiss answered back, in a tone that made it sound as though she was quoting one of the thousands of business textbooks she had read in her childhood, "competition is good for capitalism."

"Ah huh, sure it is Weiss" Blake answered back skeptically. "Alright, let's just say I believe you are doing this just to grow your company… why am I here?"

Beginning to walk over to where the only furniture in the entire empty room was still unpacked, Weiss gestured to a small chair on one side of a small deli table, and then sat across from it. When Blake sat down, Weiss began with "I can handle the financial side of the business just fine, along with making distribution deals, licensing agreements, trademark applications, and pretty much every part of the business's legal side". Taking a moment to catch Blake's eyes, she continued on. "But I can't do the side of the business that decides whether or not this store does well or flops. I need someone who knows the business, who can help me set this place up and get it running. I need somebody who knows the types of books to stock, the coffee to buy, how to organize the store…" Weiss speech trailed off at that point, hoping that Blake was catching her meaning.

Blake had, and she wasn't sure how to take what Weiss had just offered her. "I… I wouldn't know what to do…"

"Yes you would" Weiss cut her off, before Blake could get any farther. "I remember all the times that you would come back to your old dorm, so frustrated because your manager hadn't ordered any fresh coffee beans, or had overlooked a few new books that customers were coming in specifically for. What you said made no sense to me, but you were convincing the dozens of times I heard you say that you could run the shop better than he could."

Blake didn't know what to say. She didn't even know how she felt about this. In her bones Blake could feel the urge to throw caution to the wind and say yes, but the raven haired girl wasn't sure if it was because she thought it was a good idea, or because she simply wanted revenge on her old boss. Instead of giving an answer, Blake asked "why me? Why not someone from your dad's company who actually knows what they are doing?"

"Because I want this to be mine". Weiss then retracted that statement, instead saying "because I want this to be ours. I'm fine with using his money, which is just as much his as it is mine, but if I let my father's decisions come into this in any form, I won't ever know if what I had worked because it was a good idea or if it was because my dad came in and took over". Weiss had wanted to leave this tactic until Blake was sure about joining up, but then decided that maybe this would be the deciding factor. Pulling out freshly and crisp sheet of paper, Weiss gave Blake a hard look and said "I'm not pressuring you; I just want you to see everything laid out on the table. This here is a legal contract, with the Schnee family emblem on it, which states that as long as I retain control of this subset of the company both you and I will have equal and total control over the business. When I turned 18 I became an independent vice president of the company, which means I am able to go into whatever division of the company I choose. Technically I am not supposed to, but no one ever said that I can't create my own division. There are only 8 people who are on equal footing with me inside of the entire company, and only one person who is above me. And my father would still have to take legal action in order to debunk me and wrestle control of this branch from me. The control would always stay with us, and nobody could tell us how to do things".

Weiss handed over the paper to Blake, who looked at it in a shell-shocked state of mind. The paper, it was only a single one-sided piece of cardstock, was simply laid out. There were no hidden texts, or double meaning clauses. There were only three lines, with the signature and seal from Weiss on the bottom, with two identical fields for Blake to fill.

Weiss, in a rush, added as a final thought "I'm going to be hiring a day and night staff, full of all the positions we would need. We just need to sign a few papers and give the occasional direction. We're both going to be busy as it is, as huntresses and all".

Blake didn't know what to say. She didn't know how to respond. Finally finding her voice, all she was able to get out was "I… I need to think about it."

Weiss hadn't expected anything else, and said that she was "perfectly fine with waiting. I don't need to do anything with the property for the next 3 weeks".

There was an awkward silence for a few moments, while they both silently thought about what to say after all of that. Weiss finally decided to act first, and said to Blake "well, I'll leave you to think about… things". As the heiress left she called over her shoulder "you can keep the key, I have my own set."

Blake could only nod in response. As she heard the bell ring as Weiss left, she could only think about how this choice could affect her future. She had always heard that business and your personal life shouldn't mix, but Blake also felt as though she could trust Weiss. So deep in thought, she didn't even notice as she missed a call for a second time that night.

* * *

Blake waited in front of the empty, soon to be renovated building, already having decided what she was going to do. She could have met Weiss anywhere, but meeting her friend here seemed fitting in some odd way. As she waited Blake stared off at her old store, thinking back on all of the old days she had spent hating getting up in the morning, hated going to work, and hated relying on such a horrible person for her funding for schooling. She was glad that she no longer danced to a clock that was driven by her misery. She didn't even notice when Weiss walked up next to her, and wasn't pulled out of her thoughts until Weiss tapped on her shoulder.

Looking down at Weiss, Blake just motioned with a jerk of her head to follow her, and the black haired girl walked into the shop, which she had unlocked earlier. Blake had been pacing the store for the few hours, and only went outside to meet Weiss once she had made up her mind. Placing her hands in the coat pockets of her sweater, Blake turned to Weiss.

"Hey, I'm sorry about you not getting that promotion. I heard about it from Yang through Ruby" Weiss began, trying to console her friend.

"It happens" was all Blake said with a shrug of her shoulders. It had turned out that all those calls that Blake had been waiting for were simply supposed to inform her of the rejection for advancement. They had done nothing wrong, and they were the golden example of a functioning team. Until Blake and Yang had been with the company for an entire year, they were unfortunately illegible for any promotion. Blake's boss informed her that the new policy, which had only been put into effect a month ago, had been designed to give hunters and huntresses more experience before receiving truly dangerous field work. After a few more apologies from her boss, who said the new policy was idiotic and repressed truly talented teams, Blake then called Yang and told her partner the bad news. Yang had taken the news well, but Blake wasn't sure how to feel about the news. As she sat by herself in her apartment, unable to even drown her thoughts out with a new book, she decided she should make another change.

"So, you really want to do this?" Weiss was glad to have her friend on board, but wasn't sure if this was the way she wanted it. To only get Blake because of a rebound from bad news, well it wasn't exactly what she had in mind. Still, maybe Blake having something to work for, to ignore the bad news, would be a good thing.

Blake answered with a simple nod of her head, and handed to Weiss the now signed piece of paper. They were partners now, maybe not as close with each other as they each were with their own, but still close enough to get this to work.

"Alright…" Weiss mumbled as she turned to look across the room, about to create what would one day become her company's greatest legacy of all. And it would all start with Weiss simply stating "let's get started."

* * *

**This part was a pain, not sure how I feel about it. I know where I want these stories to lead to, but I'm not sure if this story will get me there. Rate and Review, tell me if something bugs you. I'm here to get better, and negative criticism is just as important as positive feedback.**

* * *

**(1): a remark made offhand by Yang in "permanent markings", chapter two of the "Vibrant Colors Beginning to Fade" story system. While it isn't meant in a mean way, Weiss begins to really think about what they mean by that, and if they're right.**


	3. Chapter 3

A bell's peal lightly resounded through the entire store as its two owners entered. And around the entire shop, staff members straighten up and attempted to look as though they were working vigorously, immediately wiping down counters and straightening their stations. It wasn't a sign of fear, but one of respect and gratitude. Most bosses weren't as well respected by their employees as the two teenagers were.

_The Wildlife Reserve_ had become one of the city's most popular locations in the two short months it had been open. Split evenly between a large café and a decently sized bookstore, the shop catered to the city's youth, hunters, and it's faunas. While Blake liked to attribute the success to luck, Weiss was convinced that it was Blake's guidance that had led the store to be a success.

In the beginning, Blake had spent almost all of her free time in the store, hiring designers, interior decorators, and an army of construction workers to renovate the old bistro into a workable space. In a short month Blake turned the husk of a restaurant into something worth praising, a modern and bright open space that was both cluttered with books, but also feeling spacious and relaxing. She had spent the majority of her time making sure the café was right, and Weiss had originally been surprised when Blake ordered metal chairs and tables for the area. Weiss became worried that they might have to move back their scheduled opening day as Blake rushed to put the store together at the last minute, but she trusted her partner's judgment, and wasn't disappointed when everything was finally put together less than an hour before the doors opened for the first time, each part of the store cohesively fitting with the others.

Looking nice was one thing, but that wasn't what made the store an instant success. What had done it was Blake's decision to hire an entirely faunas staff, and made sure that they were paid a more than fair wage. Originally Weiss had just thought that Blake was hiring faunas to do a good thing for her fellow members of society, who had on many occasions felt the sting of inequality. And while that was a part of Blake's plan, that wasn't the whole reason behind her decision. Blake was crafty, and had a good understanding of how news traveled. Before the end of their second day every newspaper in the city was talking about the all faunas corporation, run and led in part by a faunas herself. With a clear statement, and a publically obvious take on the issues surrounding the equality movement, Blake grew up a huge number of loyal customers within the first week. They came to make a statement, to agree with the equal rights movement. By the end of their first month, nearly every faunas in town, and every individual who was a friend to the faunas had made the coffee store their sole café, to make a public declaration of their support.

As Blake walked in and held the door open for Weiss, they both were surprised to see the place was still packed, even though it was only 20 minutes from closing. They had recently extended the stores hours on the advice of one of their managers from its beginning 8 to 8, and had experimented around before they settled on a 6 to 11 open hours schedule. They had needed to hire several new employees to fill the new hours, but Blake and Weiss could see with their own eyes that the changes were worth it.

"Hey Betty, how are things" Blake asked with a smile as she stopped by the counter.

Betty was the first hire they had made, and acted as the unofficial boss whenever the two owners weren't present. Both Weiss and Blake knew how lucky they were to have found her. Slim and tall, with sharp angular features, she actually resembled an older version of Blake, or maybe it was Blake who looked like a younger version of Betty. They had originally worried that they would have a hard time getting someone who was older than the two to comply and recognize them as the bosses. They hadn't had an issue yet with Betty. As the acting manager she controlled the store with a gentle hand, one that could easily become an iron fist when needed. She was ambitious and understood that starting small could lead to very big things, and both Weiss and Blake knew that as long as Betty was treated fairly, they would never have need for worry. If she hadn't been a bat faunas the twenty six year old would probably already be at the top of some multinational corporation, running everything behind the scenes.

"Good, things are busy as usual" the faunas replied, waving at Weiss with a webbed hand as she stepped away from the empty counter. While Weiss was just as respected by their staff, she seemed uneasy being as informal around her employees as Blake was. "So, just got back?"

"Yeah, we wanted to check up on the store while we were nearby" Blake answered, stretching slightly, thinking of the long train ride the group had taken between the two counties to get back.

All of team RWBY had been sent on a weeklong diplomatic mission to a neighboring countries top school (which hadn't been that diplomatic at all, as they left the majority of the school's students in the infirmary after a small dispute). They had expected angry shouts from Ozpin when they returned, but instead had received just a chuckle as he explained that he really sent them over to rough the school up. Beacon was a proud school, and Ozpin hadn't appreciated the second rate school's attempts to poach his students or his staff. With a dismissive wave, he told them all that hopefully the school would learn to leave Beacon alone, and joked as they left how he would send them back on another trip if he ever needed representatives for another "diplomatic meeting".

"Who's working today" both Blake and Betty heard called from the back, as Weiss found her small desk and began to sign a few of the bills and documents that had piled up since their last visit.

"I've got the brothers Simba and Leorio working the bookshelves, and I have Jennifer cleaning the back and helping me up here at the counter when we get busy" Betty answered back.

Weiss's white head leaned around the corner, as if she was trying to hide behind the wall, and asked "Why isn't Kevin working this week? I looked at the hour spread sheet and notice that everyone else is absorbing his hours. " After a moment of thought, she then asked in a worried tone "You didn't have any issues while we were gone, did you?"

While she said "no… nothing major" her voice betrayed something else. At a glare from Weiss Betty went on with "Kevin got in an accident on that stupid motorcycle he was so proud off, the one he and your red headed friend were working on together. Some idiot ran a red light and t-boned him dead on".

"Is he okay?" Weiss was actually worried for Kevin, she like him a lot. He was a little scatterbrained at times, but the turtle had proven to be a hard worker, and neither Blake nor Weiss liked the idea of having to find someone to replace him.

"Yeah, he'll be fine. He only cracked a few ribs and a plate on his shell; he'll be fine in a few weeks, although the doctors are keeping him in the hospital until Sunday to make sure that he didn't receive anything too serious". She then chuckled, and sighed lightly while saying "I think he is more worried about what Ruby is going to do to him. The bike is totaled, and when he called me he sounded as though he was freaking out more over how your friend is going to react when she finds out its been destroyed".

While Weiss wasn't worried, and was telling Betty that she was sure that Ruby wouldn't be upset that the bike was totaled as long as Kevin was okay, Blake actually pondered if that was true. Ruby and Kevin had become decent enough friends, brought together by their love over anything with an engine or advanced machinery. But Blake had been there when she heard Ruby christen the bike as "her baby", and the raven haired girl wasn't sure how her friend would react when she saw the low rider in a half dozen pieces.

Blake was so deep in thought that she didn't notice it when two boys came padding up behind her, and noticed their boss's mental departure from the store. Thinking that they'd have a laugh, they both stared off into space while putting up their hands and rested their chins on their palms, leaning on the glass on each side of the cat. The gesture was perfectly mimicked by the two boys, although one of them didn't know what to do with his tail, and when Blake finally snapped out of her thought process she noticed the mockery. Pushing over the boy next to her, she knocked Leorio over and left Simba to laugh at his brother, now sprawled on the ground. "So I take it you guys had nothing better to do besides mock me" Blake sighed playfully. She couldn't be too bothered; Blake had known the twins were tricksters when she interviewed them for the position. And she hired them anyway, knowing that a lively staff as what a place like this needed.

"Look Blake, I'm sorry… but it was just too great a joke to pass up" Leorio laughed at her from the floor, still finding the joke really funny. His enormous canines were glinting in the sunlight, and the mane of golden hair that grew out of the back of his head covered his second set of ears completely. While his appearance could be a little intimidating, Blake had pinned him from the moment they met as a huge softy, although when she read his résumé she was surprised that the hulking, muscular 6'7" lion that was having a hard time sitting comfortably in the small chair across from her was only 16. When Blake hired interviewed the two, she had told them that while she didn't care how, they needed to do something to make themselves stand out from each other, as she found it annoying to have to read their nametags or turn them around to find out which of the two brothers she was yelling at. Simba decided to cut his hair short, or at least somewhat shorter than his bothers, so that he could easily be told apart from his long locked brother.

"Hey, where should I put those new books by Shane Dean, the ones that only came out yesterday" Simba asked. While they were both jokers at heart, Simba was a little more business oriented, and wanted to make sure that he was not just a muscle around the store.

"Oh, I forgot those came out today. Put them at the front desk, people will be looking for those."

"Will do. Alright Leo, let's go." Simba swooped down and grabbed the black tuft of fur at the end of Leorio's tail, and proceeded to drag his brother back to the front desk. As she turned away, Blake heard half of a joke that started with Simba saying "thanks for making my job easier bro, I had to clean the floors tonight anyway."

"They still play like cubs" Betty mocked with a smile behind Blake, who turned back to see both Weiss and Betty looking over an accounting book.

"They aren't giving you trouble are they?" Blake had never heard anything but praise for the two employees, but then again she was the boss, and she wanted to make sure that Betty had no reason to be annoyed.

"What?! No, they're fine. They tend to play around a little too much, but are great with customers. And they always get their work done ahead of time". Looking up, Betty gestured with the tilt of her head and said "can we have a conversation in the back; Weiss and I were looking at a few numbers and need to talk with you".

"Sure" Blake responded.

"Okay, let me go get Jen so that we're still covered everywhere". Blake already knew why she didn't get one of the twins to come over here. The only issue they ever had with either of the two lions was that the further apart they got, the louder they would yell their jokes across the store. And some of their jokes were better left to be kept to a whisper.

After a call from Betty they heard Jen slowly walking up from the back, being careful to not knock something over as she usually did. Jen was a mild manner nineteen year old, which didn't match her look, built very tiny at barely five feet tall. Initially Blake had thought that she would be as graceful and lithe as her bloodline legacy of a rabbit, but she actually had turned out to be a bit of a klutz, and had on multiple occasions accidentally knocked over a bookcase or two when she tripped over her own feet. They kept her in the back or behind the counter for everyone's safety. As she turned around the corner, she smiled at both of her bosses, who returned the smile warmheartedly. When Jen got to the front desk and into a better light Weiss noticed the girls new hair color, even though it was barely a shade off from her usual light pink; Jen's long braid was closer to a lavender color now, and the new color clashed heavily with her bright blue tattoo sleeves.

Betty led the way back into the smaller break room, weaving around the boxes stacked in the small hallway with all the grace of a ballerina. While Blake followed just as lithely, Weiss's foot actually caught on one of the smaller box openings, and the stack shook wildly before it seemed to settle down. The smaller space in the back, which at one time had been an industrial freezer, had been made into an office only large enough for a small desk and a few filing cabinets, which no one ever used. A name plate for Weiss rested on the desk; although it could be flipped onto any of its three sides so that it showed either Weiss, Betty, or Blake's name. Weiss was always trying to just give the desk to Betty as she only used it once or twice a week, and Betty would have much more reason to use it. But Betty refused, saying that the owner should have the only one if there really was only one. Sitting around the desk, Weiss on one side, Blake on the other, and Betty hopping up on top of the six foot tall filing cabinet, Weiss fumbled through the booklet for a while before handing Blake a column filled with numbers. Betty watched silently from her perch, having to bend her head slightly to keep from rubbing her hair against the ceiling.

Weiss thrummed her fingers against the desk while saying "ignore that for a moment, let's start off with the small things first". Looking up at Betty Weiss asked "didn't you have something you wanted to bring up first?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to ask something so that I can set up a standard". Cocking a thumb back at the door that led to the main front, Betty asked "are we okay with Jennifer showing off her tattoos, or are we going to ask her to keep covering them with a long sleeve shirt?"

"Um… I'm not bothered by it." Blake cast a glance at Weiss, who simply shrugged her shoulder and said "I couldn't care less; I doubt it is affecting sales."

"Okay, good, Jen wanted to know before she went out and bought a new wardrobe; apparently she is getting tired of wearing jackets and long sleeve shirts." Her voice was a more somber tone now, and she said "we need to hire someone new, Mikey had to quit".

"So he got into that academy?" Blake had known since the beginning that Mikey wouldn't be around for long, he had told her when she hired him that if he got lucky he would only be at the store for a few months. In all honesty she wasn't that sad to see him go, he hadn't been a hard worker.

Blake had always been in charge of interviews, so it was probably going to be her job to find someone to fill the post. So far the store had 3 full time employees (Betty, Jennifer, and Caleb) and 4 part time workers (Simba, Leorio, Kevin, and Mikey). Now they were down one, Blake would have to fill that slot with someone else. In the beginning she had needed to wait for days before she would find a worker calling in from one of the ads they had placed in a newspaper or a windowsill. Now Blake would have to wade through a mountain of résumés just to find a decent replacement.

"Alright, I can handle getting a new hire". Looking down at the sheet of paper, Blake held it up to the other two girls and asked "so, what is this?"

"Those are our profit margins Blake. Pretty good news, all things considered". Weiss got up and walked around the desk so that she was peering over Blake's shoulder, and pointed at a column on the right side of the page. "So these numbers here are our monthly costs, broken down into things such as supplies, employee pay, etcetera-etcetera". She then shifted her fingertip an inch to the right, and explained how "red numbers mean profit losses, while green ones are just profits." After pointing to a few key points on the spreadsheet, she then tapped on a small box at the very bottom of the entire data table. "It would seem that we have drifted into the positives overall".

"Which means?" Blake didn't want to appear ignorant, but she would rather ask something now than guess at what it meant later.

"After all of the monthly costs, including every single expense, the store is bringing in more money than it takes to keep running."

"Oh… cool, I guess."

Betty and Weiss shared a quick look, and then Betty delicately asked "do you get how big this is?"

In a tone that didn't hide her exasperation well, Blake just huffed "obviously you guys think I don't. How could we not have been making a profit, you see how packed we are right now, and the store is barely minutes from having to close down".

"Well yeah, but… Blake, it's unheard of for a business to turn around and make a profit this fast, especially in this line of work." Weiss was surprised the tone she received back from Blake, she had never heard it from her timid and humble partner before; Blake actually sounded somewhat arrogant.

"Pfff… you guys don't value what we have. We are golden, everybody loves us."

Weiss huffed as a response "now. How long will that last?" Returning to her chair, Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose and started "I'm worried-"

Slamming her hands on the table in front of her, Blake yelled "NO! Every time you start to worry you want to do something way too drastic!" Blake threw her hands up in exasperation and said "why can't we just go 'this is great' for once? Every god-damn time something goes well, you think it's just foreshadowing for something scary and terrible that's going to come later!"

Blake would have kept on going with her tirade, but was silenced by a glare from Weiss. It was dark and menacing, as if Blake was getting a look past Weiss's normal reserved character and actually seeing the true nature of the heiress's personality. Blake wasn't scared of many things, but the unhinged, openly venomous look from her friend was one of the few things that could cause her any sense of unease. It showed her that Weiss could disregard friendship, and that the icy princess could truly cut Blake loose if she ever became a problem. Weiss probably wouldn't even lose that much sleep over the decision.

"I'm worried" Weiss began again, twisting the words as if she was trying to make them actually sting Blake, "that other companies will see how great this worked for us and will start to hire all faunas staff and run us out of business." In a lighter tone, one that was more mocking than it was threatening this time, she laughed "we're going to run ourselves out of business by teaching our competitors how to destroy us."

Blake wasn't sure how to deal with that idea. In truth, she couldn't feel remorseful if she ruined her business to give equality for every single faunas. For the greater good, however much this had cost Weiss, one dead store was worth the change.

Betty, who had been silently watching the two heads and their discussion for the last few moments, chose now to break up the argument. Leaning forward slightly from her perch, her glasses almost falling off of her face, Betty interrupted their fight with "I don't think that we have to worry about anything like that yet Weiss".

After a look to explain from both of her bosses, Betty continued on. "Most companies who are actual corporations designed in a normal fashion can't afford to hire all new workers and to pay the faunas workers' wages equal to the amounts you're paying us, at least without firing the same number of normal workers. And then how would they justify all of the layoffs?" Mimicking the sound of a gavel, she pretended to smack the top of the cabinet and said "could you imagine how fast any company would go out of business if it was slapped with tens of thousands of racial discrimination lawsuits, as everyone who was laid off sued for being replaced with an… 'animal' worker who just happens to have an extra set of ears or a tail". Shaking her head, she finished "it could eventually be a problem, sure, but only if you're thinking ten or fifteen years down the line Weiss. You're just driving yourself towards unnecessary anxiety by worrying over it at this exact moment".

Weiss wasn't sure if she truly agreed with Betty, but decided to let the matter drop… for now at least. Leaning back into her chair, twisting her neck and getting a loud crack out of it, she said "well… I guess that's all I had to say."

"Let's go home" Blake said as she stood up, eager to be able to rest in the comforts of her own home, and to put this night behind her. Looking back at Betty, Blake asked "you don't need our help closing right?"

"We'll be fine. The day is only half over for me anyway" Betty answered with a shifty smile, which then became a frown when she then uttered "it would be a sham Blake, don't forget that." Blake wasn't sure what Betty meant, and simply gave Betty an inquisitive look. In a somber tone the bat said "faunas rights wouldn't be restored if companies decide to give us fair rights just for a gimmick. People have terrible memories, and in ten years nobody will remember what started this movement, for the faunas, if we let ourselves be wiped out by competition." As a final, grave note she added "it would be ten short, forgettable years of smiles and handshakes, and when no one was watching, we would all be swept under the rug again. Please try not to forget that."

* * *

As Blake and Weiss started Walking down the street, back to where catching a cab would be a little easier. As they began to walk down the busy street Blake cast a look around. Leaning over to speak into the ear of the much shorter girl, Blake began her question. "Do you ever feel guilty about… well, that?" Unable to finish her question she just pointed with a finger across the street.

Following Blake's gesture, Weiss looked across the busy roadway to a store which had large foreclosure signs in its windows, along with a few ads trying to sell the store and its equipment. While it was a grim sight, it actually brought a smile to Weiss's face, even if it was a small one. "How could success in any measure make me feel guilty?"

"So we did open a coffee shop just to get back at my boss?"

With a shake of her head Weiss answered her cat eared friend "no, but I would be lying if I said that running a terrible, horrible, vile racist out of business wasn't a perk of our gamble."

"Hmm… I guess I can't disagree." And with that the two business women walked off into the night, feeling the light from the coffee shop's windows warming their backs and lighting their paths ahead.

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**I think the story is back on track, although I have to toss that beginning message of their only being five or six chapters to this story out the window. I don't know how many there will be, but I definitely know that I went really low on my guesstimate. Comment on this, I want to know what you all think.**

**Also, I couldn't find a way to put it in without making it feel shoehorned in and shoving it down everyone's throat, but Kevin isn't a turtle. He is an armadillo. So far we haven't seen a faunas that isn't mammal based, and I prefer not to dive into untested waters. It makes more sense in my opinion as well, being a little closer on the genetic tree-branch. I just wanted to make sure that everyone had a decent mental image of him, at least not something that is in a totally different ballpark.**


	4. Chapter 4

As Weiss walked into _The Wildlife Reserve_ she was surprised to see the entire staff and Blake all huddled around one of the counters in the café. The store wasn't slated to open for another thirty minutes, but the usual early morning scramble to prepare for the six o'clock rush usually wouldn't have been over by now. As she walked up, Weiss heard a few words that startled her.

"Vile would be a good one"

"Have we already used cruel?"

"Oh there's vindictive, repulsive, unpleasant… do you think he would know what calamitous would mean?"

As Weiss got closer, she heard Blake joke "I'll add it anyway. Who knows, he might have actually open a book every once and a while…"

Blake would have kept going with her insult, but Weiss interrupted the group by clearing her throat and asking "what are you all up to?"

Blake actually jumped out of her seat, a red marker flying out of her hand and landing somewhere in the bargain bin. The rest of the group- Caleb, Simba, Jennifer, and their newest hire Laura- just looked up from their activity with open interest. Blake looked for where the marker had landed until she just decided it was lost, and said "nothing much" while hiding one of her arms behind her back.

"Sure you are, and that would be why you almost leapt out of your skin" Weiss muttered, craning her neck to see what Blake was hiding. It was a fruitless effort, as even with the heels Weiss had taken to wearing lately, she was still left substantially shorter than her cat friend. Looking over to the counter, she read the page Jennifer had been reading from and then asked in a perplexed voice "why do you have a thesaurus open to synonyms for evil?"

Blake fidgeted for a moment before she heard Simba chip in with "just tell Weiss, I think it's pretty funny".

"You think everything is funny" Jen muttered darkly "You laughed at my hair all last week".

"Well maybe you should warn us before you decide to become a clown for a week. Turquois isn't your particular shade".

"Yeah, and I'm sure I see lions running around in the wild with pitch black hair" Jen retorted while she stroked her hair self-consciously. Really wanting to cut Simba deep she then added "I'm pretty sure they don't run around tailless either".

Calling a faunas tailless was already an extremely cutting insult, it was the equivalent of calling a normal person spineless. And it was a touchy subject in particular for Simba, who had always been bothered by his lack of the extra appendage that defined most of the lion faunas community, including his own brother.

"Enough," Caleb growled in his deep, surly voice. An older man, the oldest that worked in the entire store, Caleb had an intimidating presence, and the two bickering teens ended their argument and simply resorted to shooting glares at each other.

Oblivious to all that had just gone on, Weiss began tapping her foot while looking at Blake. Her body language read easily that she had nowhere to be, and would wait as long as it took to find out what her friend had been up to.

Sighing heavily, Blake began her story. "You know how after we hired Laura we thought that it might be a good idea to also hire a third manager, so that we would always have an active manager on duty?"

Weiss vaguely remembered the conversation, although she didn't really pay attention to the hiring process. Betty managed only the evening shifts, and Caleb was in charge mostly during the day. Still, with only two managers there were a lot of times when only a few part time employees or Jennifer was there. Originally they were just going to hire another part time employee and upgrade Jen to management status. But when the rabbit refused the position, saying she didn't want all of the extra hours along with her schooling, Blake and Weiss decided to just hire a manager and hope for the best. They put out a few ads and watched as the stack grew.

"Well, I got a walk in applicant who came in for an interview early this morning; gave me a bit of a shock really." At this point Blake brought her hand forward and showed Weiss what she had been hiding, a resume stapled to a reference sheet. Or at least it had at one point been a résumé; now the document was so marked up by red sharpie the paper was almost impossible to read.

"I don't understand what this has to do with…" Weiss began, until she read what the red markings were. Originally she had thought that they were just scribble markings. Now taking in the letters she realized that Blake had written dozens upon dozens of insulting words, ranging from vile to moronic to appalling, in frenzied red strokes all over the page. All three of the pages had been completely destroyed by red ink, and as Weiss turned it over she saw that even the backs of pages were destroyed by the obscene insults.

Wide eyed, she asked Blake in a shaky tone "why would you do this? Do you have any idea how bad this could be for PR if someone saw this?" Weiss was shocked that Blake could be this stupid, and this was a really stupid move. If she really had needed to, the raven haired girl should have just taped it to a dart board or something if she really needed to get her frustration out. In the middle of the store, in broad daylight… something like this could be extremely damaging.

Blake just turned the packet over and pointed to the top of the sheet. "Read the name."

Weiss read past the red scribbles and tried to make out a name through the scarlet web of chaos. It was difficult, as Blake had scratched out "PIG" in big block letters over the name box. When she finally made out what the red was hiding, Weiss actually understood how Blake could have flipped out this much. "Seriously… he applied?"

"Yep" was Blake's only response.

* * *

Blake remembered being woken up the night before on her second cellphone, a crappy flip phone she used only for business. Usually Blake didn't go to sleep this early in the evening, it was barely past ten. She had had a hard day at beacon today though, as Blake had been required to tour new possible students around the campus. While Blake had been totally polite to the entire group, she had spent most of the tour silently mocking the idiotic questions she received in the back of her mind. The raven haired girl spent six hours after class touring around a bunch of whiny fifteen year olds while thinking to herself things such as:

'_This is a fighting school, why do you care if we have a drama program!'_

'_Of course the free meals are gross, they are free!'_

'_Not every single building has a special name for a special reason… and you're asking this about the math building! It's called the math academy because this is where the math classes are!'_

'_No, we __**ARE'NT **__allowed to sit on the fields, just ignore the team having a pic-nic over on the grass, or the two different teams playing two __**COMPLETELY **__separate games of Frisbee over there and there.'_

Needless to say, when she arrived home at around nine o'clock from her final shift, Blake arrived irritable and dreading having to repeat the process tomorrow afterschool as well. "Last time I do a favor for Ozpin" Blake grumbled as the faunas hoped on one foot while wrenching off her left shoe. The lying, two faced weasel said that the job would be "easy" and that he would put in good word with her supervisor for the help. Blake was pretty sure she didn't need the recommendation, and had only accepted because Yang was _supposed _to be working with her on the job. Of course, when Yang saw how long the route they had to take the touring kids on was, she bailed, faking some illness and saying that she didn't feel she was going to be able to meet "Beacon" standards. Blake was going to give her partner a piece of her mind, as soon as she saw the blonde tomorrow in class.

Suddenly feeling the effects of her drowsiness, Blake stumbled to her room and flopped onto her crappy futon. She would worry about changing later… which meant she would fall asleep before she actually got to that. Blake got in about an hour of light dozing, but was then woken up by a ringing in one of the pockets on her jeans. Blake had told the rest of the group to not bother her today, and was a little more than miffed when she began trying to pull her phone out of her jeans. When she finally got the phone out of her pocket and tapped the screen, wondering who it was that forgot to leave her alone (Blake was betting on it being Yang, attempting to make some halfhearted apology), Blake realized it was actually her second phone that was buzzing away in her pocket. Pulling out the crappy flip phone she recognized the front desk from her store was calling her. Flicking on a light as she sat up, she stifled a yawn while she waited for a voice.

"Hello, it's me, Betty".

"Hey Betty, what's going on?" Betty tried not to call unless it was something urgent, so getting a call at a quarter past ten brought worry to the forefront of Blake's mind. What needed her attention this late in the day?

"I have an… applicant… one for the manager job opening that you put out? Well, he is standing in front of me, and he wants to talk to the person in charge of hiring new employees."

"It kind of late, just tell him to hand in his application…" Blake stopped for a moment to stifle a yawn and then continued "and we will call him if he meets our requirements."

"He _really_ wants to talk to you" Betty added, and Blake caught a bit of worry in Betty's voice.

Catching on quick, Blake asked "who is working today?"

"Just Kevin, Jennifer, and myself."

_Damn_, Blake thought to herself, _not a single intimidating person in the store_. Betty didn't care if the person wanted a job; she just wanted to keep from creating a scene. Thinking quickly, Blake began to put back on her shoes while saying "tell him that I don't speak to prospective employees over the phone and that I would be more than… _happy_ to meet with him at 5 before the store opens tomorrow". She then added "if he is not okay with that then I can run, and be to the store in less than five minutes if you need someone to keep things from getting out of hand."

Blake listened while grabbing her keys off of the hutch next to her door, and had put her hand on the front door's handle. She was ready to start running when she heard Betty say "he say that would be great, and he is looking forward to seeing you tomorrow."

"Good… tell him thanks, and stay on the line with me until he leaves the store."

Blake waited a few moments, listening patiently, and then heard Betty heave a sigh and say "he's gone."

"Good," Blake responded, her heart starting to slow down, throwing her keys back into the bowl on the hutch.

"Blake, I don't know, please don't hire him. I don't like the vibe I got from him."

"That bad?"

"Yeah" Betty mumbled. She hesitated for a moment, and then added "I don't know what it is about him, but something tells me he's bad news?"

"Alright, I'll see him tomorrow, and tell him in a week that there was a better qualified applicant for the job".

"Okay thanks, I'll call you if anything else comes up" Betty sighed, and then Blake heard the line disconnect. Sighing, Blake shrugged off her shoes, leaving them by the door, and fell back into her bed again, attempting to regain some of the peace she had possessed moments before. Unfortunately, all Blake received that night where fitful nightmares.

* * *

As Blake walked into her store during the mid-fall morning, she heard the sound of sweeping coming from one of the aisles. Leaning around the corner, she saw Caleb cleaning up a broken mug which must have fallen during the night. Built like a bear, it was a little amusing seeing the hulking mass of forty five year old muscle sweeping the broken ceramic shards into a dust bin with (what looked like in his giant hands) a tinny twig that had a few bristles on the end of it. "Hey, why are you in so early, you don't need to give up your entire morning?"

"Betty called last night and told me that she needed either me or Simba to come in early for some odd reason. She said we might be hav'n a difficult customer come in, so I thought it best be me".

"Seriously?" Betty and Caleb were equals as managers, although they never worked the same shifts. Caleb preferred working the mornings anyway, and wasn't bothered by their arrangement. Still, Blake didn't like the idea of Betty calling in others to deal with an issue the owner was supposed to handle. Blake would have to talk to Betty about that later.

"So… have you seen this 'difficult customer'?"

"Yes miss. I left him in your office, to do with as you please." He gave her a quick glance, and then said "If I could give you my own opinion, I think you should hear him out quickly and ask him to leave. Gave me the meanest look I ever seen when he saw my claws. I don't like the idea of having him around, not for a moment."

"Hmmmm…" Blake hummed. Caleb was a quiet, mild mannered fellow, and when he chose to speak, which was rare event, it was best to heed what he decided to say. Reaching up and running her fingers through her hair, Blake pulled her ribbon away from her extra set of ears and said "let's see how this goes".

Blake walked back to her office and opened the sealable door, which had been propped open with a copy of _Mice and Men_. Blake had always planned on removing the airtight seal from the freezer, but had never gotten around to it; the idea of being trapped inside, or having one of her employees trapped both equally terrified her.

As Blake entered she saw the back of a pudgy white man, who had a giant bald spot on the back of his head, fooling around with the few desk toys that had been left on the desk. He flicked the hand of Blake's lucky black ceramic cat, and watched as it waved back and forth at him.

"Sorry for making you come in this early sir" Blake began as she walked over to her side of the desk, not taking a moment to look at him. As slowly sat down in her chair, she laid eyes on the man before her for the first time. And before her sat her old boss.

Both of the two looked shocked, Blake unable to think of any reason why he would be here. Finally finding her voice, all Blake was able to spit out was a simple and venomous "you…"

"Well, I didn't expect to see you anytime soon," her old boss mumbled meekly, finally finding his voice. "So, you work here… at the store that ran me out of business?"

"I own the store that ran you out of business," Blake retorted. For months Blake had always imagined what she would say if she ever ran into him again. Unfortunately, this was the one scenario Blake had never thought of, her actually interviewing him for a post.

"You… you… you own this store? Well then, I seem to be in luck" her old boss mused, his eyes squinting to slits. "It appears I won't be needing this" the fat man mumbled idly, tossing a stapled packet of résumé' sheets onto the center of the desk. Blake looked down and saw a poorly put together résumé, complete with a coffee stain and what looked like powdered cheese dust. Blake had always found it strange how he could hate the faunas so much, Blake had never met anyone who reminded her of a pig more than he did. "You see," he began "I find myself now in need of some form of revenue as now my store has closed. It would seem that I taught you how to run a business, and I feel as though I deserve a reward for a good portion of your success."

"You… you think you deserve any part of this?!" Blake was outraged! He threatens her staff, disrespects her managers, comes into her store and expects her to just comply.

"I deserve the majority of _this_" he sneered. "Even with what you would start to give me, you and your furry friends will probably still be making _your class's _wage."

Apparently he thought Blake was some spineless wimp, who would just roll over and give this "higher being" a piece of something that he had done nothing to create. Or maybe he had supplied something, the rage that had inspired Blake to want to succeed. He must have forgotten the last time that they had met; Blake had proven to not be a coward who would just take an insult.

"Get out" Blake snarled, already feeling the blood beginning to pump quickly through her veins as rage began to take over.

"I shall do no such thing, not until I am paid what I know I deser-" he began. He didn't get much further though, as Blake grabbed him by the throat and began carrying him down the hall. His foot lashed out and struck Blake in the side, but there was no force to the kick, and Blake barely noticed it behind the veil of rage she was seeing through.

She didn't take any notice to the fact that now the entire staff had arrived in the store, and paid them no attention when she strode into the middle of the café still holding the thrashing sack of fat by the throat. Throwing him down in front of the door, Blake snarled down at him "if I see you in my store again I'll press charges".

Getting to his feet and supporting himself with the door handle he yelled back at her "you ungrateful half-breed! I gave you the job that kept you in school! How dare you lay your filthy paws on me!"

"You don't get out of my sight in the next ten seconds, and these _filthy paws_ will tear out your jugular! You don't look that tough, crouching like a sack of shit against my door."

"You don't scare me! I'll take everything you own, and put you and every single piece of filth you have hired back on the streets where your kind belongs!"

"Six… seven… eight…" Blake counted. She didn't get the luxury of counting any further, as he whirled around and stalked away down the street. Blake honestly wished he had stayed, damn the consequences.

As she began to calm down slightly, she pulled in large, shaky breaths through her nose to calm herself down faster. A glimpse of her reflection from a mirror showed her wild hair and dilated eyes, and the murderous expression that had spread across her face along with the crazed gleam in her eyes. She tried to compose herself the best she could before she turned back to the café, where all of her workers still stood speechless. Blake didn't want to have to explain all of what had just gone on. Blake was glad when someone else broke the silence, when Jennifer simply said "screw him!"

Laura and Caleb nodded in agreement, and Blake heard Caleb mutter "knew he was trouble, just knew it."

Simba just groaned, saying "Leorio is going to be so mad that he missed that. That was awesome to watch!"

* * *

"Well, I'm glad you got some closure Blake, but I still think that you handled that poorly. What if you had hurt him, he take us to court and sue us?"

"We all stand as witnesses, Blake had been provoked" Laura added in such a quiet voice that she was almost impossible to hear.

"Look, a bunch of faunas against a known faunas hater won't stand up in court…no offense," Weiss added at the last second. "Are you sure you didn't hurt him?"

"Only his pride" Blake commented dryly, checking her watch. "Welp, stores about to open, ready to get to Beacon Weiss?"

"I just need to sign a few papers that came in last night, then sure. Can you wait… ten minutes?"

"No problem" Blake responded. Taking the job for herself, as Weiss walked towards the back, Blake walked up to the front door. Flicking a switch by the wall and lighting up the "open" sign, she looked at the nameplate she had ordered a few months ago. Weiss was a gifted artist when it came to etching on metal** (1)**, and they had made a plaque with a spot for every person who had worked at the company. Next to each name was a small animal drawing, except for Weiss who had filled the spot by her name with a snowflake. A cat, a snowflake, a bat, a rabbit, a bear, 2 lions, one mouse, an armadillo, and a recently added otter. As Blake looked up at the plaque with pride, she thought to herself how quickly it had grown from only a cat and a snowflake.

"Alright Blake, let's go" Weiss called, already half out the door.

And without a word, Blake turned away from the plaque, already anxious to see how it would grow next.

* * *

**(1) Just a quick piece of completely non-cannon information that I had added in during "Bloody Bullets". I thought most people would wonder where I got that from; I'm planning on doing a story that builds upon that fact in "Vibrant Colors".**

**Rate and review, and thanks for reading!**


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